Building Community

*How do you build community in a distance education setting?*

I believe one of the best ways to build community in a distance education setting is to have group work. It is difficult to literally meet in groups, but through e-mail, video conferencing, chats, and discussions, students are able to put their ideas together and work on a group project. Since I have taken several distance education classes myself, I know how difficult it can be to work in groups. The best way to handle distance education group work is to assign tasks to everyone. This way, everyone has to participate. Once information for the project is found, each person should have a part in creating the presentation as well. For example, if it is a group paper, split the topics and have each person write one section of the paper. Then, choose one person to send all information to and let them put the paper together. After this has been completed, that one person would send the paper to everyone and they would proofread and send back errors or changes to the one person in charge.
Another way I feel creates community in a distance education class is to introduce yourself. In all of the classes I have taken, the very first discussion we completed was about our self. We also had to include a photo so the other students could put a face with voices and ideas. I think this is almost crucial for a distance education setting.